Danny “El Gallo” Gonzalez revealed that he suffered multiple broken bones in his fourth-round knockout loss to Danny Garcia on Saturday in Brooklyn, New York.
The Queens-based Gonzalez revealed on Thursday afternoon that he suffered a broken jaw from the first punch he took moments into the fight, and suffered a broken ankle and leg when Danny Garcia landed the left hook that ended the fight. The left hook sent Gonzalez crashing to the canvas, bending his right leg behind him. Gonzalez tried to beat the count but fell back to the canvas, prompting referee Harvey Dock to waive the count.
“First round, he clipped me with a right hand and broke my jaw,” said Gonzalez, 22-5-1 (7 KOs), of Woodhaven, Queens, New York. “I couldn’t bite down on my mouthpiece, but I still tried to fight through it.
“Four rounds later, mouth wide open, he landed the left hook – and on the fall, I broke my ankle and leg trying to get up. From that first punch, the fight went downhill.”
Trainer/managed Moises Roman tells BoxingScene that Gonzalez will undergo surgery on his ankle this coming Monday, while the jaw and leg injuries "are getting better; healing by the day."
It was the second time the 35-year-old Gonzalez has been stopped as a professional. A career junior welterweight and welterweight, Gonzalez was fighting for the first time as a junior middleweight.
The former two-division champion Garcia, 38-4 (22 KOs), had floated the idea beforehand of the fight being his final bout, but he left the possibility of a ring return open afterwards.
Now it's Gonzalez who is sounding more like he is considering retirement.
“Sometimes that’s how life goes,” he said. “Twenty years of hard work … gone in a single moment.
“No excuses. No crying. Just pain, lessons and reality.
“Hate me or love me – I gave this sport everything I had. And even broken … I’m still me.”
Ryan Songalia is a reporter and editor for BoxingScene.com and has written for ESPN, the New York Daily News, Rappler, The Guardian, Vice and The Ring magazine. He holds a Master’s degree in Journalism from the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism and is a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be reached at ryansongalia@gmail.com or on Twitter at @ryansongalia.
